Database Reference
In-Depth Information
In summary, you can consider moving certain CPU-intensive activities (within reason) on the SQL
Azure database without being charged. You may, for instance, perform complex joins that use large
datasets in a stored procedure and return a few summary rows to the consumer as a way to minimize
your usage fee.
Security
It goes without saying that security may be a concern for certain types of applications; however, these
concerns are similar to those that companies face when using traditional hosting facilities. The question
that comes to mind when considering security is related to the lack of control over data privacy. In
addition, certain limitations may prevent certain kinds of monitoring, which automatically rules out the
use of SQL Azure for highly sensitive applications unless the sensitive data is fully encrypted on the
client side.
As a result, encryption may become an important part of your design decision. And if you decide to
encrypt your data, where will the encryption take place? Although the connection link is encrypted
between your application code and SQL Azure, the data itself isn't encrypted when it's stored in SQL
Azure. You may need to encrypt your data in your application code before sending it over the public
Internet so that it's stored encrypted.
Encryption is good for data privacy, but it comes with a couple of downsides: slower performance
and difficulty in searching for data. Heavy encryption can slow down an application, and it's notoriously
difficult to search for data that is encrypted in a database.
Review of Design Factors
So far, you're seen a few considerations that can impact your design choices. Table 2-1 provides a
summary. Some of the considerations are related to opportunities that you may be able to take
advantage of; others are limitations imposed by the nature of cloud computing or specifically by the
Azure platform.
As you design applications, make sure you evaluate whether specific Azure limitations discussed in
this topic still apply—the Azure platform is likely to change quickly in order to respond to customer
demands.
Table 2-1.
Summary of design factors
Opportunities
Limitations
Offsite storage
Limited amount of storage
Elastic cost
Performance
Instant provisioning
Backups
SQL Data Sync
Security concerns
High availability
